Morning Headlines - Thursday, May 11, 2023 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Five Takeaways From Trump’s CNN Town Hall

The biggest event so far in the 2024 election cycle took place in New Hampshire Wednesday evening.

Former President Trump participated in a town hall event hosted by CNN, with Kaitlan Collins serving as moderator.

The fact that the event was happening at all had drawn some criticism beforehand — mostly, but not exclusively, from liberals and the left.

On the other hand, a ratings bonanza was forecast by many media-watchers.

After all the hype, here are the main takeaways.

Rep. George Santos Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Criminal Charges

Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 13 federal criminal charges, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York spokesperson Danielle Hass told Axios.

Santos was released on a $500,000 bond, per Hass, after he was charged earlier Wednesday for alleged wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying to Congress.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said that the indictment, filed in the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday, "seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations."
It included seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the U.S. House, per the Department of Justice.
Santos surrendered to authorities and was taken into custody at a federal courthouse in Long Island earlier Wednesday.

Santos, speaking to reporters after his arraignment, called his arrest a "witch hunt" and said that he is planning to run for re-election.

US Border Crisis: El Paso Braces For Worst As Title 42 Deadline Looms

US President Joe Biden earlier this week acknowledged that the border would be "chaotic for a while" despite the best efforts of authorities.

First implemented in 2020, Title 42 allows US authorities to swiftly expel would-be migrants attempting to cross the border from Mexico - including those seeking humanitarian asylum - using the Covid-19 pandemic as justification.

But with the policy due to expire a minute before midnight on 11 May, officials fear border authorities may be overwhelmed by an influx of migrants even as record numbers in recent years have already strained resources and left border towns scrambling for solutions.

Mr Leeser warned that across from El Paso alone, an estimated 10,000 migrants were "lined up at the border, waiting to come in".

Yellen: U.S. Default Would Be Economic And Financial "Catastrophe"

Political brinkmanship over raising the U.S. debt ceiling risks "serious economic costs" even without the "catastrophe" of a default, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Thursday at Group of Seven finance talks in Japan.

Hours earlier, former president Donald Trump urged Republican legislators to trigger the first-ever U.S. debt default by refusing to lift the limit if Democrats don't agree to spending cuts.

President Biden has threatened to call off his upcoming trip to Asia, including in-person attendance at next weekend's G-7 summit, if the deepening standoff isn't resolved soon.

"In my assessment -- and that of economists across the board -- a default on U.S. obligations would produce an economic and financial catastrophe," Yellen said in a speech.

Joran Van Der Sloot, One Of The Last People To See Natalee Holloway Alive, Is Being Extradited To The US

Joran van der Sloot, one of the last people to see American Natalee Holloway alive in Aruba in 2005 before she disappeared, will be extradited to the US, according to a family statement released Wednesday which was obtained by CNN.

“In May 2005 my 18-year-old daughter Natalee Holloway left Birmingham for Aruba to attend her high school graduation trip and was never seen again,” mother Beth Holloway said in the statement.

Holloway was last seen in the early hours of May 30, 2005, leaving a nightclub in Aruba with van der Sloot and two other men. No one was charged in her disappearance, CNN previously reported, and her body has never been found.

In 2012, an Alabama judge signed an order declaring Holloway legally dead.

Knodl Appointed Chair Of New Committee, Others Reworked With New Senate GOP Supermajority

Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has appointed Sen. Dan Knodl to lead a new committee as he reworks membership on others to reflect the GOP’s new supermajority in the chamber.

Knodl, who was sworn in last week, will chair the newly created Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection Committee.

In creating the committee, LeMahieu pulled oversight of elections and consumer protection from Sen. Duey Stroebel. The Saukville Republican now chairs the renamed Government Operations Committee.

Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, knocked giving Knodl oversight of elections after the Germantown Republican signed a letter more than two years ago asking then-Vice President Pence to delay certifying the 2020 presidential election to allow time to investigate claims of fraud.

Fond Du Lac Shooting Suspect Held On $1 Million Cash Bond

One of the Fond du Lac shooting suspects is still at-large, but the youngest suspect turned himself in overnight Wednesday and appeared in court Wednesday morning on homicide charges.

Fond du Lac police say 14-year-old Parise Larry Jr. surrendered himself to officers at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday without incident. He made an initial appearance Wednesday, where the court set his bond at $1 million cash.

The criminal complaint says Larry and the other suspect, Antonio Johnston, had a conflict with one of the shooting victims. One of the victims, identified only as “Victim 2″ in the complaint, told police at the hospital he believed he was the target of the shooting but couldn’t tell police much more due to his condition at the time.

Chinese Prisoners Say Forced Labor Has Been Used To Manufacture Milwaukee Tool Gloves

Day after day over nearly five years in Chishan Prison, Lee Ming-che walked the five minutes from his cell to one of several manufacturing spaces on prison grounds.

The prison in China’s central Hunan Province houses political prisoners like Lee, a renowned human rights activist who met with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during her consequential 2022 visit to Taiwan. Lee, a Taiwanese college administrator, was convicted in China of “subverting state power” in 2017 and released in 2022.

In an interview in Mandarin with Wisconsin Watch from his home in Taiwan, Lee said officials forced him and hundreds of other Chishan prisoners to work roughly 13 hours a day, seven days a week with just a few days off around the Chinese New Year. His pay? The equivalent of about 48 cents a day.

Dane County Man Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For 2017 Sexual Assault

Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced that Kevin J. McDowell, age 39, of Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 20 years of initial confinement and 15 years of extended supervision for a sexual assault that occurred in 2017. A Dane County jury found Mr. McDowell guilty of Second Degree Sexual Assault by Use of Force on January 13, 2023. This conviction for Second Degree Sexual Assault by Use of Force is the defendant’s 57th overall criminal conviction.

This sexual assault took place in 2017. The victim went to the hospital where a sexual assault nurse examination was conducted. The defendant’s DNA from the sexual assault kit in this case hit to another sexual assault kit, which was tested as part of Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). The jury was presented with evidence pertaining to the SAKI case as an Other Act applicable to the defendant’s motive, intent, and plan.

“This sentence ensures that the defendant who committed this serious violent crime will be behind bars for a long time,” said Attorney General Kaul. “Thank you to the brave survivor who reported to law enforcement and the many criminal justice professionals whose work brought the defendant to justice.”

Bad River Tribe Seeks Emergency Shutdown Of Line 5 Due To Riverbank Erosion

Attorneys for a northern Wisconsin tribe want a federal judge to order Enbridge to shut down the company's Line 5 oil and gas pipeline on its reservation over fears erosion may compromise the line’s integrity.

Lawyers for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed an emergency motion in federal court Tuesday to shut down Enbridge's Line 5. Attorneys for Bad River asked U.S. District Court Judge William Conley to make a decision on its motion by Friday as the river draws closer to the pipeline at an area known as the "meander" due to erosion from spring flooding. Bank erosion along the river has increased due to high flows since the second week of April.

In the filing, attorneys say the river is less than 15 feet from the pipeline at four locations and only 11 feet of bank remains in one spot.